1959 in Japanese Baseball

1959 in baseball
Japanese baseball
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1959 in Japanese baseball

Nippon Professional Baseball

On June 25, the Emperor's Game between Osaka Tigers and the Yomiuri Giants occurs at Korakuen Stadium. Giants' rookie Sadaharu Oh hits a 2-run home run in the seventh to tie the game at 4 and then in the bottom of the ninth Shigeo Nagashima wins the game for them by hitting a sayonara home run. This comeback occured on national television as the Emperor and the empress were in attendance. The two home runs were the first by the O-N gun.

Standings

Bold indicates league champion; Italics indicate Nippon Series winner
From 1950 to 1979, the official name of the Pacific League was the Taiheiyo Baseball Union.

Central League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Yomiuri Giants	130	77	48	5	0.612	0.0	551	382	0.245	2.54	Shigeru Mizuhara
Osaka Tigers	130	62	59	9	0.512	13.0	358	362	0.237	2.37	Yoshio Tanaka
Chunichi Dragons	130	64	61	5	0.512	13.0	477	428	0.237	2.77	Shigeru Sugishita
Kokutetsu Swallows	130	63	65	2	0.492	15.5	422	491	0.230	3.19	Mitsuo Uno
Hiroshima Carp	130	59	64	7	0.481	17.0	404	414	0.218	2.62	Katsumi Shiraishi
Taiyo Whales	130	49	77	4	0.392	28.5	352	514	0.214	3.47	Shigeo Mori

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Nankai Hawks	134	88	42	4	0.672	0.0	574	408	0.265	2.44	Kazuto Tsuruoka
Daimai Orions	136	82	48	6	0.625	6.0	559	447	0.255	2.76	Kaoru Betto
Toei Flyers	135	67	63	5	0.515	21.0	490	483	0.242	2.98	Yoshiyuki Iwamoto
Nishitetsu Lions	144	66	64	14	0.507	22.0	494	459	0.236	2.66	Osamu Mihara
Hankyu Braves	134	48	82	4	0.373	40.0	387	510	0.222	3.26	Sadayoshi Fujimoto, Katsuki Tokura
Kintetsu Buffaloes	133	39	91	3	0.305	49.0	381	578	0.229	3.68	Shigeru Chiba

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Shigeo Nagashima	Yomiuri Giants	.334		Kohei Sugiyama	Nankai Hawks	.323
Runs		Shigeo Nagashima	Yomiuri Giants	88		Yoshinori Hirose	Nankai Hawks	86
Hits		Shigeo Nagashima	Yomiuri Giants	150		Takao Katsuragi	Daimai Orions	163
Doubles		Akira Owada	Hiroshima Carp	34		Kazuhiro Yamauchi Kenjiro Tamiya	Daimai Orions Daimai Orions	32
Triples		Kazuhiko Sakazaki	Yomiuri Giants	9		Junzo Sekine Norifumi Kido	Kintetsu Buffaloes Nishitetsu Lions	9
Home Runs		Takeshi Kuwata Toru Mori	Taiyo Whales Chunichi Dragons	31		Kazuhiro Yamauchi	Daimai Orions	25
Runs Batted In		Toru Mori	Chunichi Dragons	87		Takao Katsuragi	Daimai Orions	95
Stolen Bases		Hiroji Okajima	Chunichi Dragons	41		Roberto Barbon	Hankyu Braves	38
Walks		Hiroji Okajima	Chunichi Dragons	79		Yasumitsu Toyoda	Nishitetsu Lions	78

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Minoru Murayama	Osaka Tigers	1.19		Tadashi Sugiura	Nankai Hawks	1.40
Wins		Motoshi Fujita	Yomiuri Giants	27		Tadashi Sugiura	Nankai Hawks	38
Winning Percentage		Motoshi Fujita	Yomiuri Giants	.711		Tadashi Sugiura	Nankai Hawks	.905
Losses		Noboru Akiyama	Taiyo Whales	22		Tetsuya Yoneda	Hankyu Braves	24
Innings Pitched		Masaaki Koyama	Osaka Tigers	344.0		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	402.1
Appearances		Masaichi Kaneda	Kokutetsu Swallows	58		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	75
Hits Allowed		Yoshio Kitagawa	Kokutetsu Swallows	274		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	300
Home Runs Allowed		Masaichi Kaneda Noboru Akiyama	Kokutetsu Swallows Taiyo Whales	26		Masayuki Dobashi	Toei Flyers	23
Strikeouts		Masaichi Kaneda	Kokutetsu Swallows	313		Tadashi Sugiura	Nankai Hawks	336
Base-on-Balls		Yasushi Kodama	Chunichi Dragons	106		Shoichi Ono	Daimai Orions	118

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Game featured two games and was a tie one games to one. The first game was played at Nishinomiya Baseball Stadium and was won by the PL, 9 - 0. The second game was played at Osaka Baseball Stadium and was won by the CL, 6 - 4.

Postseason

In the Nippon Series, the Nankai Hawks (PL) defeated the Yomiuri Giants (CL), 4 games to 0. The winning manager was Kazuto Tsuruoka and the series MVP was Tadashi Sugiura.

Award Winners

The winner of the 1959 Sawamura Award was Minoru Murayama of the Osaka Tigers. He had a 18 - 10 win-loss record, 294 strikeouts, and a 1.19 ERA in 295.1 innings.

Award	League	Player	Team	Position	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	W - L	SV	IP	HA	HRA	BB	SO	ERA
Most Valuable Player	CL	Motoshi Fujita	Yomiuri Giants	P	108	8	10	1	7	1	.093	.123	.139	27 - 11		330.0	250	14	93	181	1.83
	PL	Tadashi Sugiura	Nankai Hawks	P	120	9	22	0	8	0	.183	.240	.208	38 - 4		371.1	245	17	35	336	1.41
Rookie of the Year	CL	Takeshi Kuwata	Taiyo Whales	3B	435	64	117	31	84	25	.269	.359	.543	Did not pitch
	PL	Isao Harimoto	Toei Flyers	OF	418	48	115	13	57	10	.275	.328	.435	Did not pitch

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 1959 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Motoshi Fujita	Yomiuri Giants		P		Tadashi Sugiura	Nankai Hawks
Shigeru Fujio	Yomiuri Giants		C		Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks
Katsumi Fujimoto	Osaka Tigers		1B		Kihachi Enomoto	Daimai Orions
Masataka Tsuchiya	Yomiuri Giants		2B		Isami Okamoto	Nankai Hawks
Shigeo Nagashima	Yomiuri Giants		3B		Takao Katsuragi	Daimai Orions
Yoshio Yoshida	Osaka Tigers		SS		Yasumitsu Toyoda	Nishitetsu Lions
Toru Mori	Chunichi Dragons		OF		Seiji Sekiguchi	Nishitetsu Lions
Akira Owada	Hiroshima Toyo Carp				Kohei Sugiyama	Nankai Hawks
Kazuhiko Sakazaki	Yomiuri Giants				Teruyuki Takakura	Nishitetsu Lions

High School Baseball

The 41st National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 1864 schools competing for 29 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Saijo High School (Ehime) defeated Utsunomiya Kougyou High School (Tochigi) by a score of 8 - 2.

The 31st National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 23 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Chukyo University Senior High School (Aichi) defeated Gifu Shogyo High School (Gifu) by a score of 3 - 2.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 1959 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 10 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Waseda University defeated Kansei Gakuin University by a score of 4 - 3.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

Season	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth
Spring	Waseda	Rikkio	Hosei	Keio	Meiji	Tokyo
Fall	Rikkio	Waseda	Keio	Meiji	Hosei	Tokyo

Tohto University Base Ball League

The Kokugakuin club did not participate in the spring season.

Season	League	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth
Spring	1	Senshu	Nihon	Komazawa	Shibaura Tech	Gakushuin
	2	Kokugakuin	Aoyama Gakuin, Tokyo Agriculture		Meiji Gakuin	Seikei	Musashi Tech
Fall	1	Nihon	Komazawa	Senshu	Shibaura Tech	Kokugakuin	Gakushuin
	2	Chuo	Tokyo Agriculture	Toyo	Meiji Gakuin	Aoyama Gakuin, Seikei

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

Season	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth
Spring	Kwansei Gakuin	Ritsumeikan	Doshisha	Kansai	Kobe	Kyoto
Fall	Kwansei Gakuin	Kansai	Ritsumeikan	Doshisha	Kobe	Kyoto

Hall of Fame

The following people were elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in its first class.

• Isoo Abe, by Special Committee
• Yokio Aoi, by Special Committee
• Shin Hashido, by Special Committee
• Hiraoka Hiroshi, by Special Committee
• Jiro Kuji, by Special Committee
• Michimaro Ono, by Special Committee
• Kiyoshi Oshikawa, by Special Committee
• Eiji Sawamura, by Special Committee
• Matsutaro Shoriki, by Special Committee